Sean Penn in “This Must Be the Place”
Is there any question left that Sean Penn is the finest actor of his generation? Can there be any further doubt that Penn stands alongside Marlon Brando, Jack Nicholson, Dustin Hoffman, early Al Pacino and early Robert de Niro as one of the screens greatest actors?
Twice he has won the Academy Award for Best Actor, for his riveting performance as a devastated father in Clint Eastwood’s haunting Mystic River (2003) and five years later for his extraordinary turn as the ever hopeful Harvey Milk in Milk (2008), which also won enormous praise from the critics, earning him Best Actor Awards from the LA and NY Film Critics groups. Penn has been nominated for Best Actor Awards for his work in Dead Man Walking (1995), for which he should have won, for his turn in Woody Allen’s Sweet and Lowdown (1999) something of a surprise nomination and for his fine work, and in I Am Sam (2001). In my opinion further nominations should have come for At Close Range (1986), Best Supporting Actor for Carlito’s Way (1993), and for The Assassination of Richard Nixon (2004). Despite the genius of his work behind the camera with Into the Wild (2007) a Best Director nomination has thus far eluded him, despite a nod from the Directors Guild of America Awards.
Why is Penn off the radar for his performance in This Must Be the Place, which opens in November? The trailers have been circulating for more than a year now, and it is a Penn we have never seen before! Wearing a jet black fright wig, his face pasty white, his eyes lonely and sad and speaking in a voice that is best described as monotone and dead, he is the ultimate totally burned out rock star, bored with life because he has simply lived too much of it!! This is just the trailer, and yet one gets the impression Penn is doing work, again, that we have not experienced from him. This is what I enjoy about Penn as an actor, he constantly takes the audience places they have never before been with him, creating characters that are diverse and original, never doing the same thing twice. Like all the great actors he thrives on challenge, and does not suffer fools. A complete professional, he shows up ready to work, with strong opinions as to how he will play the part, and the finest directors know it is wise to turn him loose and let him create.
Gus Van Sant said it best when he stated, “Am I really going to tell Sean Penn how to act? How to play the part? I mean really, my job on this is to know when to be quiet and let him do the job we hired him to do.” Clint Eastwood said also “just aim the camera and he will give you art.”
In the more than twenty-five years I have been a film critic, I cannot think of another male actor who has proven to be so naturally gifted, so constantly courageous, and so sublime in his work. From the goofy stoner in Fast Times at Ridgemount High (1982), through the tortured son in At Close Range (1986), the haunted killer on death row in Dead Man Walking (1995), a father letting loose his fury in Mystic River (2003) to his joyous Harvey Milk in Milk (2008) he displays a range second to no one, and an ability to slip under the skin of the character he is portraying that only the greats possess. Penn joined that crowd, Brando, Nicholson, Streep, a very long time ago.
His performance in This Must Be the Place could be the sleeper performance of the year and if it is as strong as I think it might be, Penn will be among the nominees for Best Actor. Every so often the Academy takes note of a performance that the critics championed but perhaps was not widely seen, Tommy Lee Jones in In the Valley of Elah (2007) comes to mind, and Penn’s work in This Must Be the Place has the potential to be just that.
Joey Magidson
August 18, 2012 at 9:29 pm
I’m inclined to say no due to the almost vitriolic bad word of mouth that it’s gotten in reviews so far, besides not really getting any push of note. Not a good combination to begin with…
Joey Magidson(Quote) (Reply)
GL
August 18, 2012 at 10:09 pm
I don’t know, I could be wrong, but didn’t “This Must Be The Place” screen last year to the Academy? I could have sworn I read somewhere, and the film showed at last year’s Cannes too. But anyways I agree with Joey, if the Academy or any award’s body feels inclined to vote for him for this they will be doing as a career thing more than anything. The movie is mediocre and his performance is quite mute from all levels.
GL(Quote) (Reply)
Jeremy DC
August 18, 2012 at 11:03 pm
It’s a movie I totally forgot was even coming out this year. Sweet and Lowdown is my favorite performance of Penn’s and it’s probably also my favorite Woody Allen film.
Jeremy DC(Quote) (Reply)
Joseph Braverman
August 18, 2012 at 11:08 pm
I’ve never been the hugest Sean Penn fan, ‘Fast Times at Ridgemont High’ excluded. He has both Johnny Depp and Mickey Rourke’s Oscars, if I’m being completely honest, and while he is a fantastic actor, something tells me that it still feels “too soon” for Penn to be nominated again, or even be a dark horse in this year’s race. Penn may even have angered a few Academy voters for his public condemnation of Terence Malick’s ‘Tree of Life,’ and I’m not saying he doesn’t have a right to his opinions, but publicly condemning a film in which he was the single worst component of it probably does him no favors in either case. I like Penn alright, and he’ll probably get another Oscar nom before he retires, but it goes back to the “too soon” factor, and like Joey said…the negative pre-release reviews of ‘This Must Be The Place’ will be a major detractor toward his chances as well.
Joseph Braverman(Quote) (Reply)
Henry Z.
August 18, 2012 at 11:35 pm
The comments above say it best. While I’m not a big fan of Penn’s many works, I think he’ll probably turn up later in his career with another groundbreaking role. I think we just have to wait.
And, don’t you think Daniel Day-Lewis would be considered (or deserving) to join that list of great actors you’ve listed. Just saying.
Henry Z.(Quote) (Reply)
UBourgeois
August 18, 2012 at 11:52 pm
I think there is some considerable question that Sen Penn is the best actor of his generation. Milk was his only deserving Oscar (03 should have gone to Bill Murray or Johnny Depp) and even then there are strong arguments for Mickey Rourke and Frank Langella.
And no one’s talking about this film because it’s getting a very quiet, very late release. If you asked me my interest level in this film 15 months ago (when it premiered at Cannes), my answer would have been “moderate” and now it’s nothing at all, and I think many would share my opinion.
UBourgeois(Quote) (Reply)
Awesome
August 19, 2012 at 12:30 am
I caught this movie at Sundance this year and it was ok, and Penn is great as usual. It just doesn’t compare to his other performances. Mystic River and Milk are masterpiece performances and Dead Man Walking is brilliant. I think if the movie was better, we might be talking about it. But because the movie is just not that good, it probably won’t get any love.
Awesome(Quote) (Reply)
JamDenTel
August 19, 2012 at 1:29 am
At his best, Sean Penn can be great…but I think he has the tendency (not unlike, say, Brando) to become overindulgent, especially in terms of his vocal work; also, has anyone seen “It’s All About Love”? He, Joaquin Phoenix, and Claire Danes all do their best to make you forget they can actually act.
JamDenTel(Quote) (Reply)
Genadijus
August 19, 2012 at 4:32 am
I like him in 21 grams more than in “Mystic River”. Talking about “Milk”, it was not so worthy award for him, because M. Rourke was brilliant as well. I suppose he can receive a 3rd Oscar for the project with Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu, if they still are moving it.
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John H. Foote
August 19, 2012 at 7:39 am
With Milk (2008) the fact he did not just win the Oscar but awards from the LA and NY Film Critics groups speaks volumes, and as much as I liked BIll Murray in Lost in Translation (2003) no one will ever convince his work in Mystic River was not stunning — ACTORS revere him…why is that??? There is not a director out there who would turn down the chance to work with him, why is that??? There was almost no heat for his nomination for I Am Sam (2001), it was a hug surprise, so this could be too — as far as being too soon, what does that mean? Deserving is deserving, God, Streep has proven that — and yes, Daniel Day-Lewis should have been included on the mention of the greatest actors.
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omfgitsrohit
August 19, 2012 at 3:58 pm
Looks like a gimmick. Wasn’t it supposed to be released last year?
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